


Shadows of the Past

by twinsarein



Category: Smallville
Genre: First Kiss, Future Fic, M/M, Virgin!Lex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-21
Updated: 2011-02-21
Packaged: 2017-10-15 20:10:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/164519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinsarein/pseuds/twinsarein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Superman breaks into one of Lex’s labs, and winds going on an unexpected trip down memory lane.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadows of the Past

[ ](http://s947.photobucket.com/albums/ad318/twinsarein3/?action=view&current=ShadowsofthePast.jpg)

[](http://s947.photobucket.com/albums/ad318/twinsarein3/?action=view&current=Winner-ShadowsofthePast.jpg)

Superman crashed through the walls of yet another illegal lab. He was so tired of doing this, and that weariness was reflected in his voice. “Luthor, what are you are doing, now? I’ve warned you and warned you...”

Stalking forward until he was just shy of Superman’s personal space, Lex waved a rainbow colored jewel in his face. “Nothing that warrants your attention, Superman. My experiments here are entirely above board. You received bad information this time, and I’m going to delight in taking you to court for once. At the very least, I want restoration damages.”

Grabbing at Lex’s waving fist, his own larger hand covering the rest of the jewel and part of Lex’s glove covered hand, Superman was about to say something when he was overcome with dizziness. Clark’s awareness started to fade, as a haze settled over his vision.

His last sight was Lex’s face covered with a look of anticipation that morphed into the kind of smile Clark hadn’t seen on him since their early Smallville days. He hadn’t thought Lex capable of smiling that way, anymore.

**************************

An indeterminate time later, the world snapped back into focus, and Clark looked around in confusion. Lex and the lab were gone. Instead, he was outside, standing on the back lawn of a very impressive looking building. One that looked a little familiar, although, he didn’t think he’d ever been here before.

“No! Stop it. Leave me alone. No, I said. Let go of me. My father will eviscerate you.”

“Oh, please. Everyone knows dear old daddy doesn’t care a fig for you. How could he with such a freak for a son? Now, hold still. This is going to happen; we’ve made sure that all the teachers will be busy elsewhere. You may as well stop pretending you don’t want it. I know you’re dying for me to take out that stick you alway have up your ass, and replace it with my cock.”

Clark was ashamed that it took him so long to get moving. His only excuse is the shock on top of shock. Because, he knew that first voice, although it sounded much younger than he was used to, and less hard than he’d heard in a long time.

The voices weren’t too far away, and Clark got there just as young Lex tried to prove that he wasn’t the helpless victim his attackers thought he was. However, there were three others besides the ringleader, so Lex didn’t have much of a chance.

He wasn’t alone anymore, though. Wading into the semi-circle of young men, Clark managed to grab all four antagonists by the backs of their shirts and hold them a foot off the ground. “If this wasn’t an older Lex’s memory, I’d turn you all in for battery and attempted rape.”

Flinging them away from him, hard enough for them to land in a sprawl several feet away, Clark rounded on them. “The statue of limitations may be up in the real world, but you’d better hope I don’t find out who you are, or I’ll make your lives miserable when I get back to it. Now, get out of here, and don’t ever come near him again.”

They scrambled away, and Clark watched them go for a second before swinging back to Lex, and holding a hand out to him. “Are you okay?”

The young man ignored the hand, and stood on his own, brushing himself off as he did so. “If I’m just a memory, why does it matter? And, why are you in that ridiculous getup with Alexander the Great’s crest on it?”

Dropping his hand, Clark glanced down at himself, and was surprised to see that he was still in his Superman costume. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised, but maybe because it just seemed so out of place in this memory. Especially since this was a school-aged Lex, so Superman wouldn’t become a reality for another decade and a half. “It’s my...work outfit in real life. And you getting hurt always matters. I’ve never liked it, even now that we...hate...each other.”

Lex looked like he’s going to reply, but his bravado ended when he took a step forward and almost collapsed to the ground.

In fact, the only reason he didn’t, was because Clark used a touch of speed to get there before he could. Clark swung Lex up in his arms. “That ankle needs to be looked at. Where’s the school nurse?”

Lex struggled uselessly before subsiding with a small growl which Clark tried very hard not to find cute. “I will not allow you to take me to the nurse. My father would be informed, and that isn’t something either of us wants to happen. Besides, I’m not real, remember. I’m just a memory, so take me back to my room.”

Looking down at the slight figure with a fondness he hadn’t felt in years, Clark suppressed his smile, and started towards the closest door. This Lex was trying so hard to be tough, but he wasn’t there, yet. Clark could see it in the way Lex couldn’t hold his gaze, and that he hadn’t struggled for very long. He couldn’t be more than fifteen, about the age Clark had been when he’d met an older Lex.

Following Lex’s directions, Clark managed to get them into Lex’s dorm room quickly, and surprisingly without being spotted. When he mentioned that to Lex, he was told that it probably had something to do with the distraction for the teachers the other boys had talked about.

Laying Lex down on the bed, Clark knelt on the floor beside it, and carefully tried to work the shoe off the swollen foot. When that didn’t work, he ripped the leather as if it were tissue paper, and got it off that way.

“You make me think of Warrior Angel; the way you rescued me from those boys. You’re very strong. Much stronger than a human could possibly be.”

At the last bald statement, Clark looked up in surprise. “You’ve figured out I’m an alien, already? Are you getting some bleed-through from older you’s memories, or is even a memory of Lex’s that smart?”

A small blush stained Lex’s cheeks, and Clark couldn’t help wondering what had turned this remarkable boy into the evil man he became. At the thought, though, Clark hung his head in shame. He knew, he was fooling himself if he didn’t admit it. Lionel was mostly to blame, but Clark knew some of it was his fault, too.

When Clark looked back up, he saw that Lex had recovered from his pleasure at the compliment, and was back to looking imperious. It was so reminiscent of the Lex he’d known in his teenage years, that Clark wanted to kiss him. He quickly pushed that thought away.

“You’re an alien? From what planet? How far away? Why do you look so human? Are you more than just strong and fast? Are you here to take over Earth? How far advanced are your people from humans? Are you going to share any of your technology?”

At the barrage of questions, Clark once again had to hold back his mirth. He knew Lex would not appreciate being laughed at, even if Clark didn’t intend it to be mean. “You ask just as many questions as the Lex I knew a few years from now. Maybe even more. To answer most of them, my planet doesn’t exist anymore. It exploded years ago, and I was sent here as a baby by my parents to escape the destruction. I don’t know why I look so human, but I have no intention of conquering the Earth. I love humanity, and want nothing more than to help people.”

“I’m sorry. That must be very lonely for you, sometimes.” Lex looked genuinely sad for several seconds, but then he was scooting forward on the bed. He didn’t stop until he was almost at the edge, just inches from Clark’s face. Clark could see him practically vibrating with excitement. “I want to help you. We could work together. I’m not strong, but I’m smart, and I like science. I bet I could invent all kinds of things that would help you. We’d make an amazing team.”

Lifting a hand, Clark cupped Lex’s cheek. “God! I wish that were possible. Maybe if I hadn’t treated you so badly in those early years, that’s what would have happened, but now...”

Lex rubbed his cheek against the palm of Clark’s hand, and Clark had to bite back a gasp at the sensual move, which made him want to pull Lex into a kiss even more. Instead, he dropped his hand, but softened the move with a last caress to the downy cheek, so Lex wouldn’t take it as a rejection. “Why not now? What’s happened? Why are you...in my mind, anyway?”

Clark was surprised at the complete lack of knowledge this version of Lex had about the future. When he’d first been inside Lex’s mind, years ago, little Alexander had been very aware of what his older self had been becoming.

Of course, that version had been a part of Lex’s personality, and this was just a memory, a shadow of what had been. Even if it was an incredibly vivid shadow. “Unfortunately, the current you is my strongest nemesis. You hate me, and are constantly trying to find ways to kill me. In fact, I’d gotten a report that you were experimenting in one of your illegal labs. Which is how I got here. I grabbed some sort of mineral the older you was holding. Next thing I knew, I was in your mind.”

“How do you know you’re in my mind? Couldn’t you be in the past?”

“I thought about that, at first, because everything seems so real and vivid, but it isn’t possible. We were both touching the mineral. If it had been some sort of time travel device, we both would have traveled. Besides, based on what I’ve seen and what you told me when we were friends, this can’t have been a happy time for you. Why would the older you have wanted to come back here?”

Lex bit his lip and nodded, but then his eyes brightened. “We used to be friends? Where? How long? What happened?”

This time, Clark couldn’t hold back a small laugh. “You should have been the reporter, Lex, not me.” When Lex’s questions sunk in, though, Clark sobered quickly. “Yes, we were friends. Best friends, even. But, I was young, confused, and scared, and I messed up. Over and over, I messed up, until you finally couldn’t take it anymore.”

“So, I was perfect when we were friends?”

The unexpectedness of the question startled another laugh out of Clark. “No. You made mistakes, too. You tried, though. You tried harder than I did. You were also a better friend than I was. There is so much I wish I could change about those years, so much I regret.”

“What’s your name?”

The whispered question almost got lost in the haze of Clark’s feelings about the past. When it registered, he hesitated. Should he give up his secret identity to this memory? Lex might resurrect it someday.

Still, he wanted to give something to this Lex, that he never completely could to the older one that had been his friend. His trust. “Clark. Clark Kent.”

“My ankle is starting to throb, Clark. I want to lie down, but I want to keep talking. Will you lie down with me, so I don’t get a crick in my neck?”

Again, Clark hesitated. He really should try and figure out how to get out of here, but he couldn’t resist those eyes. Eyes that hadn’t yet been dulled by all life had thrown at him. So, he helped Lex get comfortable, and then he lay down beside him on the narrow bed.

“Will you tell me about some of the things you regret; tell me about the years we’ve known each other?”

Maybe it was selfish of Clark, but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to purge his soul to this young version of his friend. To finally apologize, and tell him all the things that he wished he’d done differently. So, he talked. He told this memory of Lex everything from their first meeting on up. He didn’t spare himself, at all. And, he hoped that somewhere inside Lex’s brilliant mind, some small part was hearing him. Even if it wasn’t a part that would ever be acknowledged by the other man.

He was barely aware of when young Lex moved a little closer, and started threading his fingers through Clark’s hair, petting and stroking his head. Finally, unsure of just how long he’d been talking, Clark wound to a stop, and a part of him felt lighter than it had in years.

“Wow, you carry around a lot of guilt, don’t you? Most of it you don’t even deserve. A lot of what you describe sounds really bad, but there were good times too, and I bet all of my good times were with you. Clark...”

At the uncharacteristic hesitation, Clark turned to look at the young man that had just listened to everything he’d had to say, only interrupting occasionally to ask his seemingly endless supply of questions, and yet still generously absolved him. “Yeah, Lex?”

Taking a deep breath, Lex moved a little closer, and leaned down, pressing his lips to Clark’s. Before Clark could react, Lex pulled hurriedly back, a look of determination on his young face. “I want you to be my first.”

At the look of shock that crossed Clark’s face, Lex finally looked down. “If...if my baldness repels you, then--”

“No!” Clark rises up on an elbow and reaches with his other hand to cover Lex’s mouth. “Don’t ever say that. Your baldness isn’t repellent. It’s sexy as hell. If anyone has ever acted disgusted, it’s a defense mechanism to how much they’re turned on by it. By you. Even when I was too young to understand why, I wanted to touch you, feel your smooth skin, caress your bald head. My biggest regret is not recognizing my feelings for you for what they were while there was still time for us.”

As the flush of pleasure from Clark’s immediate denial of Lex’s self-deprecating remark fades, Lex’s face takes on a hopeful look. “If it’s your biggest regret, then we can rectify that right now.”

Reaching a hand up to cup Clark’s strong jaw, Lex pressed a kiss to the skin right above the neckline of Clark’s costume.

At the touch of the soft lips, Clark shivered and felt his cock twitch in his uniform , but he gently pushed Lex back. “No, Lex. It wouldn’t be right. You’re only fifteen, at least, fifteen in this memory. I’m twenty-five. Ten years older than you.”

Lex trails his hand slowly down Clark’s neck, pausing to gently rub over his pulse point before continuing down. “As you say, I’m just a memory. My current self is...thirty-one, based on what you’ve told me. I’m actually older than you.

Capturing Lex’s hand before it could stray into dangerous territory, Clark took a shuddering breath. “That argument might fly, if you hadn’t asked me to be your first. If you’ll remember some of the other things I’ve told you, Lex has had many girlfriends, and has been married several times. He has no first times left to be had, I’m sure.”

“But--”

“My answer is no, Lex. Besides your age, I have to find a way to get out of your mind. You deserve more than someone that would have to leave right afterwards, or worse, someone who could get pulled away at any time, if older you discovers where I am.”

Lex looked disappointed, but not rejected, so Clark took that as a good sign. He raised the hand he was still holding to his mouth, and pressed a kiss to the center of the palm. It was Lex’s turn to shiver. “A kiss, then. Please, Clark. Give me something to remember when you’re gone.”

Looking at the hopeful face, Clark couldn’t resist. Triumph, hastily concealed, flashed in Lex's eyes when Clark leaned forward. The thought that Lex might be hoping this kiss led to more almost made Clark pull back, but then he saw trepidation mixed with excitement. This Lex definitely hadn't learned to hide his emotions very effectively, yet, and it endeared his to Clark even more.

Keeping the trepidation he'd seen firmly in mind, Clark brushed his lips over the closed mouth before settling more firmly against it. That was all he intended to do, but when Lex’s mouth opened, Clark couldn’t resist delving further in.

Gathering Lex closer, Clark swept his tongue through Lex’s mouth, searching out all the different textures he could find - he mapped the bumpy ridges of Lex’s palette, the firm smoothness of Lex’s gums, and the sponginess of the inside of his cheeks.

The little noises Lex was making were winding their way through Clark’s defenses, and it didn’t help that Lex’s mouth was the sweetest thing he’d tasted in longer than he could remember.

Finally stopping his exploration, Clark tangled their tongues together while pulling Lex even closer. He cupped the back of Lex’s smooth head in one hand, and ran his other hand down Lex’s back, resting it just above his ass.

Still completely lost in the sweetness of Lex’s mouth, it was a small moan from Lex, and feeling him give his hips a thrust that brought Clark back to the realization of what he was doing. He broke the kiss with a gasp.

Pulling back, his heart sank at the tears of frustrated desire in Lex’s eyes. He started raining what he hoped were calming kisses all over Lex’s face. “I’m sorry, Lex. You felt so good in my arms, your mouth tasted so sweet I forgot how old you were. I’m so, so sorry.”

A slightly hysterical laugh made it’s way from Lex’s throat, and his voice, when he answered, sounded strangled. “God, Clark! Don’t apologize. That was the best kiss I’ve ever gotten. Besides...”

Lex broke off when a low growl comes from Clark. “Just how many kisses have you been given?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Clark’s eyes widened in dismay, even as Lex looses another laugh. This one with no sign of hysteria; instead it sounded delighted. “You’re jealous. And possessive. I like it. Mark me, Clark. Before you go. Please. Mark me where I can see it, and everyone else can, too.”

Automatically, Clark shook his head in denial of Lex’s request, even as he yearned to do just what he asked. “I don’t dare, Lex. I already almost lost control once. If I mark you...”

Breaking off, Clark shook his head again, but groaned when Lex bared his neck for him. “Please, Clark. Give me something visible to remember you by after you’re gone.”

“I thought that’s what the kiss was for.” Clark’s tone wasn’t nearly as dismayed as he’d intended, and he made his expression extra stern to make up for it.

This Lex seemed as immune to his glower as the older version. “It was, but this is better. If you mark me, I won’t just be able to feel you against me, I’ll be able to see it. And so will everyone else. Even better, I’ll be able to touch it, press against it, feel the ache.”

Cursing his weakness, even as he shivered from the images Lex’s words and tone created for him, Clark lowered his head. Gently at first, he latched onto a piece of skin and started to suck. When Lex moaned, though, Clark started to suck harder. Pulling the bit of skin into his mouth, he ran his tongue over it, feeling the change in temperature as the blood came to the surface.

Hanging onto his control by the skin of his teeth, Clark pulled back, breathing hard. Lex gave a little cry of loss, but Clark didn’t let that stop him, as hard as it was to ignore. Instead, he rolled off the bed and stood, his arousal not hidden at all by the red trunks of his Superman costume.

Turning away from the temptation laid out on the bed, looking at him with want, and more, in his eyes, Clark took a deep breath, and then another. When he felt some semblance of control returning, he turned back. “I’m sorry the time was never right for us to be more than friends-turned-enemies, Lex. But, I hope this small part of you will always remember that I’ve always loved you, and I’m pretty sure I always will. And...not as a brother.”

Wanting to reach out and touch one more time, Clark didn’t dare let himself. He was afraid that he’d dig in deep to Lex’s mind, and try to never be found. Instead he turned around again, and started to walk out of the room.

“Clark?”

At the sound of his name, Clark paused, but kept his back to this enticing memory of Lex. “Clark, I just...I want you to know that meeting you...”

Whatever Lex was going to say was lost as haze started obscuring Clark’s vision, again.

****************************

When the haze cleared, he found himself back in the lab, the wall still busted, Lex still the only person in sight. A worried looking Lex.

Clark shook his head, thinking his vision might not be as clear as he’d thought, and the action almost sent him to his knees, as a wave of dizziness passed through him. Luckily, it didn’t last long, and Clark was saved that indignity.

Looking back at Lex, he saw the man approaching him slowly, a look of wariness now on Lex’s face. “Did it work? Were you just with younger me?”

Fear swept through Clark as he realized that the memory he had assumed was repressed, was actually freely accessibly to his greatest enemy. He took a stumbling step back, and he could feel the horror of the realization cross his face.

“No! Please, Superman. Don’t leave, yet. I’ve waited so long for this moment. I promise, I have no intention of harming you. Stay. Please.”

It was the last please that convinced Clark, that and the memory of younger Lex that hadn’t had any time to fade, yet. Clark felt as if he would have done anything for that younger version of Lex, and that feeling was bleeding into reality. “Say what you want quickly, Luthor. I’m not interested in any of your games. Especially now.”

Lex looked almost nervous as he approached closer; licking his lips to moisten them before speaking. “No. No more games, Superman. Hopefully, I am forever done with games.”

“I’m not interested in riddles either, Luthor. Just say what you have to say, and then I have other things that need to be done.”

Lex nodded sharply at Clark’s edict, and Clark could see the deep breath Lex took. Another sign of nerves. Even if Lex was nervous, he’d never show that so blatantly. Clark didn’t know what was going on, and when it came to this man, Clark did not like a mystery.

“Fine, no games, no riddles, no more lies, Clark.”

All the blood drained from Clark’s face at the sound of his name while still wearing his Superman uniform, and this time he couldn’t keep himself from going to his knees with the shock of it.

Lex cursed and raced to his side, helping to keep him as upright as possible. “Shit. I’m handling this badly. I just... All right. Just listen to me, Clark, and don’t interrupt. You weren’t in my memory, just now. I sent you back in time. Everything you experienced really happened. You saved me from getting raped and beaten up that day, you helped me when no one else would, you told me amazing things about the future, you gave me someone good to look up to, and you gave me the knowledge that someone loved me, no matter what.”

The last thing Lex listed made Clark blush, especially when he remembered what he’d said at the end of his visit with young Lex. “It was real? All of it? Why didn’t you go, too?” Lex simply held up his glove-covered hand. As realization sunk in, Clark blanched and swayed again. “Oh, God! What did I change? Is there any way to tell?”

Shrugging, Lex gestured to a bank of computers that were still intact. “If you did change anything, no one around would remember it, except you. For a few minutes more, before the new reality merges with the old. With your eidetic memory, you should be able to spot anything major. I don’t think there is anything to worry about, though.”

Ignoring that last statement, Clark raced for the computers. He shifted through all of the news feeds and history files for the last fifteen years, and then he looked for all of information of his friends, family, and co-workers. To his surprise, he couldn’t find one discrepancy. “I...I can’t find anything different. How did I not change everything? With what I told you...”

Clark trailed off as new horror fills his thoughts about how Lex could have used the information Clark gave him. In fact...why hadn’t he? Clark looked back at Lex, but before he could ask his question, Lex beat him to it. “I didn’t let anything be changed. After you left, I knew that I didn’t want to become the person you said, but I also didn’t want to risk doing something that would change what was supposed to be. There was a possibility, no matter how slight, that a change could have killed you, or ensure we never meet. I couldn’t take that chance.”

Lifting a hand, Lex ran it through Clark’s hair, and Clark closed his eyes at the familiarity of the move. “You told me enough, that day we laid on my bed, for me to make the decisions that had to be made to avoid changing the timeline.”

Shock of a different sort shook Clark, as he realized what Lex had done. What he’d been doing for fifteen years. “You’ve been playing a part all this time? Since the day I left your room?”

“I never would have agreed to be exiled to Smallville, otherwise. That town had nothing except bad memories for me. If I hadn’t known I had you waiting there for me, I’d have told my dad to go to hell and do his worst. So, I think what you told me actually kept history on its proper track.”

Clark was having a hard time taking in the enormity of what Lex was telling him. To live a role for fifteen years based on one conversation... Clark tried to think of some instance where the real Lex had shown through, a moment when Clark might have known if he only paid attention. To his shame, he couldn’t. He had seen only what Lex had wanted him to see.

Now, feeling free to drop his mask, Clark could see the boy he’d met on his trip to the past. With an expression so open that Clark was as charmed now, as he’d been with young Lex. Clark shook his head to clear it a little. “All the bad things you’ve done in the last ten years, you did them so you’d have a chance with me?”

Even after seeing Lex’s hopeful nod, Clark forced himself to continue. “How could you not go insane at doing so many horrible things you didn’t want to do?”

“By actually doing as few of them as possible.”

At Clark’s baffled look, Lex continued. “You told me so much that afternoon that my head was reeling with it for weeks. When I started sorting through it, though, I realized that I didn’t actually have to do it all to keep the timeline intact, I just had to make it look as though I did.”

Looking as though Lex was getting lost in thought, Clark made a small noise that startled him out from where ever he’d gone. “33.1, for example. You said that I conducted illegal experiments on meteor mutants without their consent. So, I shrouded the project in secrecy, and talked about it in private meetings, and made it seem to be what you thought it was. However, I actually had signed approval from everyone entering the program, and funding from the government.”

Shaking his head again in disbelief at the thought of the brilliance of mind it would have taken to simply conceive of such an act, let alone pull it off, Clark opened his mouth to ask another question, when Lex covered it with a hand. “Please, Clark, whatever you’re going to say, let it wait. There is something I’ve been wanting to do again for so long.”

As soon as Clark nodded his permission, curious as to what it would be, Lex gave a little hastily suppressed sigh of relief. Before Clark could wonder anymore, Lex was moving his hand, and lowering his lips to cover Clark’s.

It was Lex’s turn to explore, and after a brief second of surprised hesitation, Clark responded. When Lex finally, reluctantly, pulled back, they were both breathing hard. “God, Clark, you still taste the same as I remember.”

Smiling at the wonder in Lex’s voice, Clark nodded in acknowledgement. “I’m not surprised. For me, it was only a few minutes ago. In fact, I still had your sweet taste in my mouth from our kiss in the past. For you, it was--”

“Fifteen years, eight months, twenty-five days, three hours, fifty-four min--”

Stopping the awful litany of numbers the only way he could think or, Clark covered Lex’s mouth with his own. As he pushed his tongue past the non-existent barrier of Lex’s lips, Clark could hardly believe that Lex’s taste had remained the same. He was still as sweet and delicious as he had been.

However, at that point, Clark felt Lex’s hand pushing against his chest. Reluctant to give up his prize, Clark let the kiss continue for a few more seconds before he pulled back to look down at Lex. “As much as I love your kisses, there’s something I want even more. I asked you then, and you said no, so I’m going to ask one more time. Will you be my first?”

For a split second after the question, Clark’s entire body felt as though it had frozen all movement. Even his heart stopped beating. He certainly wasn’t breathing. Then, it all started up again at once, and Clark shivered violently from head to foot. “First? You want me to... What about Victoria? Desiree? Helen? What about--”

Lex’s hand came up again and covered Clark’s mouth with an amused snort. “I told you I’d been playing a role. The women were actually the easiest part to stage. I never slept with any of them. I was waiting for you.”

As his body had done a minute ago, Clark’s mind followed suit and completely froze. When he started thinking again, one word dominated all others. First. It whirled around in his head, but when his brain finally caught up, Clark swept Lex off the floor, and stood with him still in his arms. Looking down at the startled man cradled against his chest, Clark had to ask. “Are you sure? We could take it slow, get to know each other’s real selves.”

“If you weren’t invulnerable, I’d hit you. I’ve waited for over fifteen and a half years. I’m done waiting, and I don’t want slowly. I want you, any way I can get you.”

That was all Clark needed to hear. Holding his precious armful close, Clark rose into the air, Lex’s delighted laughter making the act seem more fun than it had in a long time, and he started for his apartment. He and Lex had an overdue future to start, together.


End file.
